Reports Point to Mike Young as Next Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Coach

Hokies are reportedly set to hire the Wofford head coach.

Multiple reports indicate Virginia Tech is expected to hire Mike Young as its next men's basketball coach.

Per multiple sources, Mike Young could be announced as Virginia Tech's head coach as early as tonight. Even if that doesn't happen, both sides are moving towards a marriage. https://t.co/U0PZdUDSLR— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 7, 2019

A source familiar with search tells 7 Sports that Wofford's Mike Young has agreed in principle to become head coach at Va Tech— Pete Yanity (@pyanity) April 7, 2019

Wofford's Mike Young has accepted the position as Virginia Tech head coach.— Todd Shanesy (@TerrierTracker) April 7, 2019

Young has coached at Wofford since the 2002-03 season. Overall, he's 299–244 (.551) as the Terriers head coach. However, since 2009 he's guided Wofford to 5 NCAA Tournament appearances and 62.2% winning percentage.

Wofford beat Seton Hall in 1st round and lost to KY by 6 in 2nd round. They were #14 in NET ranking at one point. Beat The best Southern Conf. teams on the road and won 21 games in a row. Pretty decent season.

"If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're probably right." Mark Twain

I have probably watched 30 or more Wofford games in the last eight years. I have friends working in the basketball programs of ETSU, Furman and Western Carolina so I do regularly watch SoCon games to keep up with how they are doing. Well versed in how Wofford plays and obviously spent some additional time looking at the rest of his background. He is well respected, works hard and is popular in the SoCon amongst the other staffs but even those folks have great reservations on how he could do at the ACC level. The biggest concern I have heard is style of play and a dislike of the recruiting process.

The biggest concern I have heard is style of play and a dislike of the recruiting process.

Unless I get this directly from a coach, I cannot accept it as complete truth. That being said, I also would not particularly enjoy the recruiting process if the only experience I had with it was for a small program who would never truly have the chance to "sell" their program. Keep in mind, prior to Wofford, he was an assistant at Emory and Henry for two years and Radford for one. None of those (albeit looking through O&M glasses) seem to have the appeal to a recruit like Virginia Tech.

I recind my previous statement about his dislike of the process, but still posit my hypothesis of trying to find enjoyment in recruiting for a program that traditionally wouldn't be in the top half of the state as far as appeal is concerned.

I dont disagree that the recruiting process will now be entirely different for him and the change may be a good thing. I really hope that he finds an assistant that knows how to navigate AAU since thats one area I have heard he has a real dislike of, which I cant blame him on but in the business he is in its a necessary evil. I have always enjoyed watching the slime roll around AAU tournaments because its soap opera level drama but if you had your livelihood depending on it I could see despising it.

No but enough did that I took it for a truth. Several of them as with most people had no knowledge of how he recruits at all or how he even manages recruiting amongst his coaches. You implied I was relying on internet searches, which frankly those didnt turn up a dislike for recruiting, so I was giving you more insight. I am not known for just making outlandish claims on here. I trust the people I talked to and most of what they had to say was all positive, especially where demeanor and character are involved. They also know how different the SoCon is to the ACC better than most, so having valid concerns on how he will handle the jump gives me pause, especially considering other names that were brought up as candidates.

No one likes the recruiting process, it's terrible. Verbal commits and offers that arent a real offer, it's all terrible. Now going out and convincing 18 year olds to play sportsball for you, that's recruiting, that takes a people person and a salesman, which is not for everyone, but way different than the process which requires the mentality of a sadistic DMV worker.

This is an indictment of where Tech Basketball is right now. Without a fortunate circumstance (Big East collapsing, Marquette AD and President changing) and a weird personality (Buzz), we never would have sniffed a coach of Buzz's caliber.

This resembles what may have happened if Beamer had left after the 95 Sugar Bowl or the National Championship Game.

We will see where Tech Basketball goes from here, but it's pretty obvious Buzz did not raise the VT job profile.

Absolutely agree. The Buzz hire was such an anomaly. If we can consistently make the tournament and finish middle of the ACC I think we are doing well. Remember where we were before Buzz, even beyond James Johnson.

Have you actually seen the contract details, what money is guaranteed, what isn't, etc...? All I've seen is this.

Virginia Tech has officially named Mike Young as its next head coach. Source tells @CBSSports his deal is for five years and in the neighborhood of $12 million.— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 8, 2019

My friend that is very plugged into the SoCon says Mike Young is the best coach in the league. He said Young is like a southern Tom Izzo. Obviously, it's not Gregg Marshall but I'm happy to have a local guy that wants to be here.

Recency bias. Young has a pretty large sample size with some occasional highs and a lot of lows as well. He could very well string together some good NCAA appearances for us, but I definitely think expectations for VT basketball need to be reset. I could see us more as a regular bubble team with the occasional ncaa appearance every few years, but to think we can put together regular ncaa bids like under Buzz would be overly optimistic. I'm not saying we will be awful but the bar should definitely be lowered for program expectations.

Young built a program from nothing. They had never been to the NCAA tournament before he took them there. And he's been back four more times. Buzz got us to the tournament three times in a row (with recruits he brought from Marquette), but most people were predicting some regression for next year even if he had stayed.

I can't really argue with your prediction, as it seems realistic. If we make it back to the NCAA tournament within three years, I think we'd be pleased. We'll have to see.

Agree- for a university the size and location of Virginia Tech, you almost have to try NOT to win a team championship in any sport ever. It's ridiculous that not one of our sports- from swimming to tennis to basketball to football- ladies or men have never won a single championship. It's almost by design it seems.

I kind of want to know what the hell happened with Odom. I think either was a bad hire in our situation but after the reports from credible sources yesterday about Odom and the rumor of an actual announcement at 6 (which is weirdly specific for something that wound up not being true) something really feels off about this whole thing.

It feels like there was a lot of dysfunction with this hiring process and Young was like Plan F. If Odom actually turned us down that says a lot about the state of our program.

Mike Young is the NCAA all time leading three point shooting record holder away from not even being considered for this job. You could give him credit for recruiting and developing Fletcher Magee, but I don't like the idea of hiring a coach from a team that leaned on one player that heavily.

I think it's interesting. We were pretty content with the prospect of Kevin Willard and hesitant about Mike Young. But the last time we saw Kevin Willard, he was getting schooled by Mike Young (despite the fact that Willard coaches in the Big Bad Big East and Young coaches at, well, Wofford). Also, we just saw Mike Young match wits with John Calipari and went toe-to-toe with him. I'm willing to give him a chance.

Ricky Stokes was an assistant at Texas when they went to the 1st Round the year before coming to Tech.
Howie Shannon's previous year was as an assistant with Kansas State who finished 4th the year before he came to Tech.

We have a 3x greater probability of firing any new coach than them leaving on their own.

3x.

When you hire a guy with remarkable inconsistency, no name recognition, a concern with recruiting, and who was making $161k last year, your probability of hiring a guy you end up firing is extremely high.

I lived in Spartanburg for years until moving to Atlanta recently. Don't sleep on Mike Young's ability to get talent to come somewhere they might not have looked at first. We need to be realistic in the fact Virginia Tech is not a destination school for big time basketball recruits. They were sold on Buzz and his staff. I am not blind to the fact we could have a couple of rough years unless Mike can step in and keep some guys at Tech. This is a realistic hire for where we are. The other half of this whole situation outside of picking a coach is if Whit is willing to continue to push $$ to the basketball program. If he does continue to do so our program will grow.

There is a lot of truth to what you say and I'll give some extra insight. I've spoken under very "comfortable" circumstances to 2 of the basketball players from this year's team. One question I asked is what brought you to Tech considering the other offers you had? Here was the answer both times;
Reason 1. Buzz
Reason 2. Buzz
Reason 3. Buzz

I live in Spartanburg.
I've watched plenty of Wofford b-ball.
The arena is as nice as a place you'll ever watch a game.

As I stated earlier, he is loved in town.
I haven't heard a bad word, not once about Coach Young.
He is involved in the community.
My family and him/his family have multiple interaction through kid sports, Church, gym, etc.
He is a quality guy all-around.
He is a proven coach at the Wofford level (I adopted Wofford in the tournaments when the Hokies frequently were not there.....)
His kids hustle.....Wofford is not the easiest school to recruit, and very hard to have academic success. (There aren't easy majors, sports curriculums.....)
His players love him.

Can he coach/recruit in the ACC? Who knows yet, but at least give him a chance......
(or not.)

Buzzketball has brought a lot of focus and scrutiny to the Hokie B-Ball program, and the sweet 16 success then Buzz leaving has left a sour taste in a lot of mouths. Not to mention big names being connected to the program in the last couple days. I think we will have to wait a little while and let things settle to truly evaluate the hire.

I think just about everyone is still very bitter with/about Buzz (me included). I wouldn't read the negativity here as being a direct reflection of the opinion on the hire. We're only a handful of days out since we got shafted by Buzz.

Yeah, we really got to just give this guy a chance, and trust in Whit regarding the quality of this hire. I mean, compared to the Buzz hire, this seems like a let-down, but pretty much any hire we could have made would have been a let-down to the Buzz hire. But all reports seem to indicate this guy is an all-around winner both on and off the court, and likely a guy that really wants to be here and win here. If recruiting is not his favorite thing about coaching, hopefully we can help surround Coach Young with assistants that can help him land his kind of guys. So I can understand we're all bitter over the Buzz thing, but we got to look at the bright side, stay positive, and see how this plays out. The guy had a hell of a year this past season, and gave the blue bloods all they could handle with way inferior talent, so give him average ACC-level talent and he could make some noise in the ACC. Plus, coaching in the region for so long, he should have a lot of contacts among the high school coaches to find the guys he wants to bring aboard.

"That man was violating a city ordinance, and I was just doing my duty to enforce it." - Mike Curtis

He wasn't my top choice but he was certainly in my top 5. This guy knows how to build a sustainable program and win basketball games. We've got a solid core already here I think we can win immediately. No one knows for sure if what worked over in the Socon can transfer over to the ACC but why not give him a shot

Part of me can't help but wonder if this was a move based around VT's culture as a football school. Here we are in really weird territory with a basketball team in the sweet 16 and a football team with a losing record. Completely upside down for what we are all used to. I think a lot of people, and probably big money boosters and powers that be at VT, were rubbed the wrong way with the way Buzz's exit played out. Young isn't a flashy or spectacular hire, but he's a guy we can get on a budget who will have the benefit of lower expectations and will likely stay and not bolt for the next big thing in 3-4 years. This also means more resources put back toward football, but a resetting of VT basketball expectations from the Buzz era. This hire to me screams a reaffirmation that we are a football school and aren't going to get burned again by paying big bucks for a coach who always has one foot out the door.

Or maybe we hired the best coach on the board. Marshall's not going anywhere, Wojo could easily have turned us down to stay at Marquette, Willard turned us down, no one wanted Cronin, and Young is more proven than Odom or Turner.

Young may have up to 10 scholarships to fill depending on transfers and decommits. I will be fascinated with finding out who he comes up with since recruiting history for Wofford is pretty hard to come by.

I think his first order of business should be recruiting the guys who are already here. Beyond that, we will get a clear early read on his connections, assessment of talent, and ability to get guys in the transfer portal to buy whatever he will be selling.

I was kinda hoping for Gregg Marshall. Then maybe Russell Turner. Someone with local roots. As long as we don't take a step back. We've had a taste of success in the last couple of years. Any coach coming into this program should know that this fanbase is hyped and wants to compete at the top.

Yeah I'm sure we won't take a step back after losing VT's first potential lottery pick maybe ever, our all time assists leader, one of the best 3 point shooters in the country, and a highly talented player who put together a great senior year in Ahmed Hill. Also that's just at a minimum. Several recruits are likely to leave and Bede is in the transfer portal. How on earth could we not take a huge step back regardless of the coach??

According to figures compiled by USA TODAY Sports, Young earned a salary of $161,043 this season. That is the lowest total among the 64 NCAA Tournament coaches included in the compilation and 5.96 percent less than the $171,244 salary USA TODAY Sports reported Young earned last season.

He won't make 2.4 his first year most likely, a salary in that range is the standard for a mid level ACC team, and depending on what the private schools and Pitt are paying their coaches it might even be bottom 3rd.

sure, not first year. I'm just thinking in terms of yearly average. One of the things that made this hire so attractive was the value. I'm really hoping the $12M includes bonuses and incentives, and that the yearly average is much lower. His first year should be at or under $1.5M in my opinion, with lots of room for raises, bonuses, and incentives.

I don't see a problem with that. He hasn't coached in P5 yet. And over 5 years maybe the gauranteed money is $8-$10M overall, so $1.5M first year and maybe $2M in fifth year and then pay the man with incentives and bonuses. If he performs and has success and proves himself, then he'd end up with total compensation that could be in the top half of the league.

I don't disagree. I still think what I'm suggesting is fair and reasonable. And I'm all for trading guaranteed money for incentives and bonuses where possible. Just because we were paying Buzz so much, doesn't mean we hav to make the same financial commitment here. NCST's Kevin KEatts is on a 6-year deal worth $2.2M annually. What I'm suggesting is a bit lower than that, but this would leave room to renegotiate an extension. And these numbers on Pastner and Brownell compare with what I'm suggesting as well.

Yes, huge jump. That's why, per my comment below, I was really thinking we could get him for between 1.5M and 2M per year. Maybe the 12M includes bonuses and incentives and the guaranteed amount is closer to 1.75M or 2M/year.

It is a big career risk for him and he deserves to be compensated for that risk especially if it goes south and he's done in 5 years and can't get a job as good as the Wofford one back. But I was really hoping we could him for a decent bit below $2M per year average and leave room for a lot of creative bonuses and incentives.

If he was making approximately 160k and is going to be making approximately 2.4 million....how in the hell is this a risk??? It would take him 15 years to make 2.4 at the previous salary and that's not factoring in the time value of money.

First, the $160K is a number from 2015. I'm sure he was making a good bit more. My point is simple and still stands; he had the ultimate job security at Wofford. Leaving that type of job security for something that is more uncertain and could end in 5 years if it doesn't go well is a risk. Now if the $12M for 5 years is true, it is a no-brainer. That is why I thought we would have a chance at getting him for well under $2M. The fact that VT will be paying him significantly more than he was making at Wofford doesn't mean it is not a risk; it just means he is being very fairly compensated for leaving such a secure job.

OK...so by your scenario his run here could end in 5 years. At 2.4/year he would have made 12 million dollars in 5 years.
He would have to work 75 years to make that much at a rate of 160k/year.
Also that isn't considering that with an ACC job on his resume (if it didn't pan out here)... I would like his chances to be able to find a coaching job when leaving here that pays at least 160k/yr.

The real risk on his end would be not taking this job to stay at Wofford.

Radford natives. Legends in VHSL. WVU and Wofford players. Current assisntants at Florida and Murray State. Shane is credited with a lot of Ja Morant's development and Darris has landed some big time recruits for the Gators.

I think he's a really solid hire. I'm pretty optimistic. Sure the hire doesn't knock my socks off like Buzz but this a good coach. Sure there are questions that will need to be answered but that was gonna be the case with with every other name we heard during this coaching search. Some of y'all just, damn.

"That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! And you can quote me on that shit!" -Bud Foster

One more thing: I'm told that the VT admin understands that recruiting is a priority, and that Young will be given a healthy budget for assistant coaches, support staff, and recruiting.— Will Stewart (@WillStewartTSL) April 8, 2019

I thought Odom had more upside than Young, and he was a previous VT assistant, so he knows the landscape. His UMBC teams were fun to watch (which is honestly #1 priority for me). I haven't watched Wofford much, so I'm not sure how fun Young's teams are. Young does have two subpar seasons in his last 4, but his last 4 of 6 are pretty good.

Overall, I think the reaction is overblown. However, I think the program needs Young to do well if we are to be attractive to the next basketball coach, whether that be 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years down the road.

I thought Odom had more upside than Young, and he was a previous VT assistant, so he knows the landscape. His UMBC teams were fun to watch (which is honestly #1 priority for me). I haven't watched Wofford much, so I'm not sure how fun Young's teams are. Young does have two subpar seasons in his last 4, but his last 4 of 6 are pretty good.

People need to stop looking at overall win-loss records. Even in Wofford's recent seasons where they finished below .500 overall, they were competitive in the SoCon. It's more important how his teams play against their average level of competition, because you have to look at how Wofford schedules.

Let's compare the non-conference SOS per Kenpom for Wofford & UMBC over the last 3 years (during Odom's tenure):

Yes, Ryan Odom has three straight 20-win seasons at UMBC, but a bunch of those wins are coming in the non-conference against lower-level competition. Wofford has played at least 5 power conference teams every season in the last three years, while UMBC has played 5 TOTAL (and that number includes Marquette & SMU).

No idea what Nolley's thinking (though I'm sure he's incredibly frustrated that he missed his first year, and had to watch his team get *that* close to an Elite 8), but he'd have to sit out another year if he transferred (I think?)...so I'd stay if I were him.

I can't speak to Young but one of his assistants was the basketball coach at my high school (I was the manager my senior year). My old coach was beyond excellent (now works with VCU Basketball) and Young was one of his most important mentors.

It's small, but I disagree. It is attention to detail, him establishing a brand as a coach and as a representative of VT. I think he's going to have a challenge sitting down in a living room of ACC caliber talent and commanding the room. Ignoring social media or just being unaware of implications isn't a good start. The free stuff helps, and we're going to need all the help we can get.

Also official official announcement isn't until Monday at 11, right? In interviews, he's been very respectful of Wofford and their past - Buzz couldn't bother to give us anything more than a Twitter graphic followed by MoneySzn.

Virginia Tech will be a homecoming for Young, who is from Radford, Va., only about 15 miles from Cassell Coliseum.

"I can trace my love for ball back to that building, going over there as a kid with my dad," Young said. "There was a time when I thought coaching at Virginia Tech was a pipe dream. And then one thing leads to another. ...I have a chance to coach in the greatest college basketball conference in the world, the Atlantic Coast Conference. I'm doing it in the back yard of where I grew up and still have family. It was my team. And I'll be doing it at a world-class university."

After the Terriers suffered a 62-56 loss to Kentucky in a second-round game March 23 in Jacksonville, Fla., things moved quickly. Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams left for Texas A&M to create an opening that seemed a perfect fit for Young.

"It happened fast," said Young, whose first conversation with Virginia Tech athletics director Whit Babcock was Thursday by phone. Young was in Minneapolis, site of the Final Four and where seniors Fletcher Magee and Cameron Jackson were competing in different events.

"We had a very candid conversation," Young said. "It wasn't very long. Forty minutes. I came away really impressed with him. I had a good feeling about it. He called Friday and said he wanted to see me, but he didn't want to come to Minneapolis. Saturday morning, he came to Spartanburg and came to my house. On his way out, he offered me the job. I let him know that I wanted to do it. They were incredibly kind about working through some things. Shortly after that, I informed him that I wanted to be the next basketball coach at Virginia Tech."

Wofford HC Mike Young has come up as a possible candidate for the #Hokies job. I talked to Mike on Thursday about the possibility of a new gig and specifically referenced the opening in Blacksburg. His answer was interesting. pic.twitter.com/DoJjkO42H9— Kyle Bailey (@KyleBaileyWFNZ) April 6, 2019

This article has a ton of good information about the timeline of the search. (It was recently updated less than an hour ago to have more quotes) It seems like we offered him on Saturday morning so all of the other rumors were just that.... rumors. This article makes me feel a lot better about this hire. He seems like he will be a great culture fit and that is very important. I have no doubt this man will be proud to be a Hokie and do everything with class. Time will tell of he has success on the court but I have no doubt that we will be amazing off the court and for the NRV community.

I'm excited. It's been a long time since VT has had a coach that is a class act and has a history of winning in basketball. Mike Young doesn't seem like the type to have one foot ot the door the day he was hired which is better for a school used to Frank Beamer.

The good thing about Mike not being up to date on Twitter is he might run media the old fashion way, with reports talking him and the players without everything being so produced and sterile.

Yeah I was never really happy with the hire. I never commented negatively about him because he was a hokie and I try not to bad mouth Hokies (especially in written). Now that he is gone there isn't really a point to complain. But I feel like some of his antics will get taken through the ringer by this site when he does them at A&M.

With all that said he's a really good coach and no where close to the average football level coaching assholes (Fedora, Gundy, Leech, etc). So happy for Fuente.

Everyone says great things when you're winning. I wasn't the biggest fan of some of Williams actions. IIRC, Malik Mueller was forced into guarding post players for most of a season and then was told he would be better off finding another place to play. I recall Buzz saying some things about Devin Wilson as well that he spun as complementary but seemed a little off (essentially "I tried to force him out but couldn't get him to leave"). I wonder if Devin wasn't going to have a scholarship and had to essentially earn one with the football team for the one season. Also I never fully understood the purpose of bringing in some players to never see the floor and then ushering them out the door a year later.

Part of the reason I disliked the OKG thing is that Mueller and Wilson exhibited the work ethic and team sacrifice preached as part of that mantra, yet Buzz wanted to show both of them the door for more talented players. While I understand the ACC is the highest level of college basketball and maybe these guys were getting a shot they wouldn't have anywhere else, several of these moves didn't seem to have any real purpose (we weren't taking flyers on developmental big men when we lacked size, it was mostly 4th team guards and wing players) and roster management as a whole was an enigma at times.

you're right, if buzz stays we don't suck. but he didn't stay, and bede/clarke enter transfer portal (not sure if blackshear has announced anything), and harris de-commits as soon as buzz signs at a&m.

that's not making excuses for mike young, that's looking at the reality of the situation for any coach not named buzz williams

I am not sure you know that if Buzz stays we don't suck. We still lose NAW, 5, Outlaw and Hill. We keep Harris (who is actually an unknown). The strength of our team this year was the leadership and chemistry and that would have to be rebuilt next year with 80% of our starting line up gone. We were going to take a step or two back regardless. My expectations for next year with Buzz was a 0.500 ACC record and a bubble team.

With Mike Young, its going to depend on who stays and who he brings in.

0.500 in ACC and a bubble team >>>>>>>>> anything from the James Johnson regime.

We're not well-established enough in basketball to become spoiled fans yet, nor should we be as deluded as 2016 LSU that we'd turn down an NIT bid if we didn't make the dance because "it wasn't worth our time."

If this were 5 years ago and we didn't land Buzz out of the blue, but instead hired a guy that won 30 games, beat Seton Hall in the tourney, gave Kentucky all they wanted in the round of 32, and won the sporting news coach of the year......this thread would have a drastically different tone

Not saying it's a homerun, but have a little perspective people. He's a Hokie now whether it's liked or not. Let's support the guy. Bitching about it at this point does no good, except to give perspective recruits a second thought about coming to VT.

I'm good with Coach Young. He's not the level I was hoping but could be Whit is looking for bball's Beamer as the next step in solidifying VT Bball, and is willing to support someone moving up with increased resources, staff and money to ensure success rather than spend all for a splash hire.

Either Whit's a genius or he's gonna be looking for a new coach in a few years.

I don't know anyone near Young to say anything bad about him but if he was able to get to the tourney with Wofford I don't see why that wouldn't be the minimum of what is expected of his team's at VT, given a small turnover period. If he is such a good talent evaluator, seemingly beloved by players and community, and grew up on VT bball then it pretty much encapsulates the kernel of a long term program.

As far as his dislike of recruiting I can add this. I know a few head coaches at D2 programs and I would say zero percent of them actually like recruiting. For sure they like the players and the families but it is A LOT of effort especially at smaller programs trying to constantly punch above their weight. I suspect that a general dislike for recruiting is a given for every head coach, and isn't exclusive to bball, division level or conference. That's why support staff is so important in modern era of collegiate sports. You need people to organize and chase while directing your engagement as head coach. There is already so much to take care of. Now if the dislike is a brazen refusal to participate in recruiting that's a different matter.

Regarding the recruiting thing, my understanding of what is meant by it is that he doesn't like it due to the level of "sleeze" in the AAU circuit, the money, etc. He obviously understands the importance of recruiting but I think we can rest assured that no recruiting funny business will go on under Coach Young. Whether he'll have success recruiting at VT remains to be seen, but I don't personally have any worries about the reported distaste for recruiting being tossed around.

Gotta laugh at those that are ready to burn the place down over this hire. The Buzz hire was a shock, and honestly, was out of our league. He took a basement dwelling ACC team, and turned us into a flash in the pan competitor. We have no established history of success, the main guys who led us to that success are all gone next year.

Whoever we hired was likely to have a rough next 2 or so seasons, restocking the cupboards. Give the dude a shot.

To me, this is somewhat similar to Jim Larranaga's hiring at Miami. Age is kind of similar. Had success at a mid-major. The results Jim has produced at Miami have been results I'd definitely enjoy. The more I think about it, I was spoiled with Buzz. I want to see how this plays out.

This is my comparison as well. Larranega has had his ups and downs in the conference and I think we will too. We have all talked about VT's supposed basketball ceiling and floor and I think Mike Young is the kind of coach that will have us in as a consistent mid-seed in the tournament in a couple years, but I think Sweet 16s are his ceiling and those will not be often. I don't think Young will challenge for an ACC title, but will have us in contention for a first round bye every once and awhile. I would like to think our floor would be 10th in the conf and NITs, but I think we will hit bottom next season and I think it will be CBI or bust.

Whatever. It was one bad year.

Seasonal Brew means High ABV for football season and standard the rest of the year.

This is certainly an interesting tactic from Virginia Tech. They included all of these quotes (from Kellogg, Frank Martin, Shaka Smart, John Beilein, etc...) in the official release (meaning it's PR). It might be interpreted by some as a the athletic department selling Young to the fanbase. From that standpoint, to me it's unnecessary.

If you are trying to convince your own supporters that a move you just made was a good move, you know the move you made was a bad one.

The move itself should be enough to sell it. The fact that it looks like we are going out of our way to say "see, its actually good, look at what these smart people are saying" reeks of the Athletic Department trying to convince itself that they didn't just screw it up.

King Alum of the House Hokie, the First of His Name, Khal of the Turkey Legs, The rightful Heir to the Big Board, the Unbanned, Breaker of Trolls and Father of Gritty

The hire should sell itself. 'Virginia Tech has its guy because he's the best hire for Virginia Tech.' It shouldn't matter what a bunch of coaches and talking heads think. I simply don't think it comes off as the best look (and this is not a critique of the actual hire). Here are the releases announcing the Fuente and Williams. There's no PR slant in them, simply a CV/traditional release. Honestly, it's the first time I've ever seen anything like that.

It doesn't matter what coaches and talking heads think, but it does matter what donors think. Whit may believe that Young is the best possible option, but clearly, a vocal part of the fan base does not. I think Whit needs to do something to close that gap before next season, and this is a step in that direction.

While I agree, I think VT is in an awkward position of dealing with a combination of unrealistic expectations, Buzz leaving at an absolute pinnacle for him, and the media musing about some elite candidates for the job.

The expectations were pretty astronomical.

By the accounts of those who actually know him, Young seems like a great person and a great hire.

Show me where any of those quotes appear in there. They don't. It's simply statements from the AD and Buzz of why it was the 'right' hire plus a list of accomplishments that stand on their own. Very little hard selling.

My point is that we interpret these tweets differently. I don't see either school using them to try to sell their hire to the fan base. People who know things about basketball are praising our (and a&m's) new coach. The tweeter at each school is just sharing the praise

My point is, I am not talking about Twitter, I am talking about the official release from the athletic department. This is still over your head. The quotes on Twitter from Tech came straight from the release.

Edit: FWIW, I meant "over your head" as "you don't understand where I am coming from", not "you are incapable of understanding it". Perhaps that's why it was received poorly. Poor choice of words from me. Anyways, I wanted to clear that up before I log off for a while and it wasn't my intent to insult you. My apologies.

I'm aware. Nothing going over my head, and frankly I see no need to be insulting because you think your point is too advanced for me to receive it. We see it differently. My apologies if my lowly naive view of the school simply sharing the praise that the new coach is receiving is below your advanced level of PR comprehension.

My apologies if my lowly naive view of the school simply sharing the praise that the new coach is receiving is below your advanced level of PR comprehension.

Unlike that response, I wasn't trying to be insulting. Merely making it clear you aren't addressing the original point I made. Which is fine.

"the school simply sharing the praise that the new coach is receiving"

The school is not simply sharing any praise. The school actively went and sought out the praise, perhaps massaged the words and message, and then rolled it into an official release. It's an important distinction. Whether or not you want to be naive to that fact is your choice. But your comparison above is not apples to apples, that's all.

Customer reviews of products, whether genuine or paid endorsements, have no bearing on the quality or enjoyment of a product or service I pay for.

However, effective advertising or endorsements absolutely influence where I spend my money.

Tech athletics make money at least partially by selling their product on the field/court, news and/or social media.

Whether or not you think it's a good "sell" job or not has no bearing of the actual quality of the hire. Additionally, to presume that this particular tactic to "sell" the hire is indicative of quality of the hire is exactly that - a presumption.

FWIW, I meant "over your head" as "you don't understand where I am coming from", not "you are incapable of understanding it". Perhaps that's why it was received poorly. Poor choice of words from me. Anyways, I wanted to clear that up before I log off for a while and it wasn't my intent to insult you. My apologies.

I don't understand how college basketball experts saying you made a good hire is making the situation worse with those who have no clue. I know it opened my eyes a little bit and help me to appreciate that he probably is a pretty good coach

'Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat,
but the man worthwhile, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat'

But the people who think it is an awful hire aren't going to be happy anyway. Some selling points won't be what causes them to stop attending or donating. Give something to the people who aren't sure to let them know the kind of person we are bringing in.

As someone that, admittedly, doesn't follow basketball closely enough to really know whether this is a good hire or not, I feel this tactic is aimed directly at me.

I don't know anything about Young other than what I have read on TKP. From all that I have gathered, it seems like a meh hire, but there also seems to be some argument that he could wind up being a diamond in the rough. But I trust Whit, and I am willing to wait and see before I make any snap judgments on this hire.

I don't like this tactic. Frankly, I feel it's patronizing. If Young is Whit's guy, he needs to own it and stand behind him. Don't show me all these things other people have said about him. Tell me why you think he's our guy, Whit. And, as a somewhat ignorant basketball fan, I will stand behind your hire until I'm given a reason to think otherwise. Nothing sells like winning.

If you play it, they will win.

"How the ass pocket will be used, I do not know. Alls I know is, the ass pocket will be used." -The BoD

The more positive information out there the better. For the casual fan who doesn't follow basketball close enough to know about Wofford to Mike Young, they see positive quotes from people they have seen on TV as analysts and experts on the sport. It raises excitement. Selling the hire may not be necessary to a large portion of the fan base, but I don't see it as a bad thing to hit that portion that doesn't know who he is.

I liked Buzz and everything he accomplished at the school was truly amazing. However we all knew he was not going to stay long in Blacksburg. I kind of wish we had made a hire like Young back then and found a coach that really wanted to be at Tech for the long haul. We would have established players in his system and would potentially be hitting on all cylinders. Now after being spoiled the last few years we will have to be patient as we rebuild again.

I see what you're saying but comparing where we were when Buzz was hire as opposed to where we are now with this hire, I think Buzz was the perfect choice. I believe a coach of Young's stature and with his name recognition would have had a very difficult time digging us out of the enormous hole we were in. Buzz brought instant credibility and was able to perform a miracle. We all hoped he would be here long term, but we pretty much knew that wasn't going to happen.

Coach Young is in a perfect spot now. It's been proven that we can win and players will come here to play, assuming Young and his assistants can recruit. And after watching the presser today, I'm excited. Young certainly sold me today. His enthusiasm seemed genuine. Listening to him talk about Alan Bristow and Craig Lieder and watching those guys when he was a kid made me realize that he's OKG.

"And after watching the presser today, I'm excited. Young certainly sold me today. His enthusiasm seemed genuine. Listening to him talk about Alan Bristow and Craig Lieder and watching those guys when he was a kid made me realize that he's OKG."

I am a bit disappointed like many fans who were hoping for a bigger name. But Young has won at Wofford where he built the program from scratch. I have heard nothing bad about him other than he has been a consistent huge winner and the fact that he is going to be making more than $2m a year. Nobody was worried about the $2m a year with the other names, so why worry about Young? Whit knows our finances better than we do and has promised funding for staff and recruiting. Oh and he also needs to coach. :)

He is a Radford boy coming home to coach at his dream job. Let's give the man a chance to hit the ground running, keep our existing players and recruits, and then build a staff and get more recruits.

I think from the article posted in the comments above this is the best statement of them all from our new coach..

""Hey, where's my dad?" he asks a couple of staff members as he heads toward the bus. "Has anyone seen my dad?"

Young's father, Bob Young, is taking in the Southern Conference Tournament alongside his son, as he does every year. Bob, who is in his mid-80s, doesn't get to as many regular season games as he used to as he lives in Radford, Virginia, but he's not going to miss his favorite event of the season.

"Old boy isn't getting any younger," Mike says later. "He comes from an athletic background. He coached. Coaching is our family business. Everybody seems like coaches. It's just what all of us do. Everybody was football coaches. They think I'm a sissy for coaching basketball."

Bob has attended the SoCon Tournament all 17 seasons that Young has been at Wofford. During the regular season he watches every game and calls Mike about an hour after it's over. But this week, he gets to enjoy the games and offer his thoughts in person."

To me, I think having his Dad at almost every game is going to be special.

He used to be a principal at Radford Middle I believe way back in the day.

He and my granddad have been friends for over 40 years. I remember when I went to a high school tournament with Radford playing with Bob once all the locals were quick to start a conversation with him. He's just an all around great guy, and especially fun to watch basketball with.

Have to catch up with my grandad today, he and Bob talk almost daily. Can't imagine how excited he was last night. This has to be a surreal experience for the whole family.

I work with a guy named Mike Young. He's a fantastic coworker and great leader, he also hit a home run for our company kickball team last week. Therefore I believe this Mike Young will do just as well.

Not going to be a huge crowd for Mike Young's introduction presser. Granted, it's a Monday morning at 11. Students have class. I believe Buzz was introduced at night. And they handed out free pizza. #Hokiespic.twitter.com/LGhaRwxgUT— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 8, 2019

Striking difference. Buzz right off the plane knew how to drum up a crowd and get people excited. Buzz also used it as a way to get those returning players in the building with him for an exciting event, working on getting them to stay right away.

Still, the pizza and night announcement is something we should incorporate, just as a matter of course, for our two revenue sports. I mean, we have a staff and a budget at the athletic department, right? Give those students some free pizza and some t-shirts for making the effort.

Right now for the basketball program that's likely a good question. While there have been no announcements, I would expect that many of the staff are on their way to Texas A&M. There still should be enough structure though that they could have made this a bigger deal.

Ok but Buzz's deal was a Sunday afternoon with free pizza to a crowd that was starved for any good hoops news.

And that getting returning players thing?... that was an absolute biblical level exodus that first year, not even counting the guys Buzz first recruited. I can name 10 guys who left within 14 months of him being hired.

'Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat,
but the man worthwhile, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat'

I have little to add on the finer points of basketball and whether or not this is a good hire. I do see a lot of paralells between a lot of the negative comments I see on here and how I felt in 1987 when we hired CFB. I was puzzled how we hired what I thought was an unproven coach from a nobody school to lead a D-1 program. I wasn't particularly impressed. The first few years didn't do anything much to change that opinion. While he isn't a graduate, Young has ties to the Blacksburg area and Tech that reach back to his childhood, so like CFB, he's coming home in a way. Frank grew on me (admittedly it took until 1993), and hopefully Young will grow on a lot of the naysayers here. Obviously, the jury will be out on him for a while, but I'm willing to sit back and give the guy a chance.

Frank Beamer's success can be attributed to many things, but a few of these stand out (that I'm not sure can be replicated)

1. Cultivated an aspect of the game that most coaches didn't - special teams. He exploited a weakness in other coachs' emphasis and helped him succeed at times above what a team of VT's caliber could expect
2. He had an incredible eye for talent in an era where great talent could be unseen by much of the country.
3. Patience from the administration - "Win Now" was far less of a thing back in 1987

I want Young to blow us all away, make VT home, and make us a perennial powerhouse. I just hope he has a few of those tricks up his sleeve that no one sees coming, because we're in a complete different era of college sports.

The presser timing was addressed by Whit. Wanted to avoid being near the NC game time but didn't want to wait because paperwork for assistants and Coach Young needs to filed so they can go recruit starting Wednesday.

I don't get why people are questioning Whit when his track record shows he pays attention to the details. He's calculated. When Buzz was hired, it was coming after a season where neither VT or Marquette was in the tourney so the hire moved quicker than this time. He was introduced the day after the Round of 32 concluded, so it didn't get lost in the shuffle of games.

We know what time it was held and we now know why it was done that way because Whit explained it. The majority of the comments made were prior to Whit putting out the statement regarding the need to have specific paperwork done to get the coaches out recruiting. The comments didn't tread on why isn't there a bigger crowd at 11am on a Monday, they treaded on why is it being done at 11am on a Monday when no one that isn't a reporter can be there. We also have seen it done differently, which appeared to be much more successful and involved fans and players but apparently that was not an option this time.

They could have put it in a smaller room in the middle of campus, maybe a high traffic area where students walking around could stop in and watch. Squires has a stage, there's a big room downstairs at Turner, Burruss, or even the lobby of Pamplin. There's an audience who wants to see this, but Cassell isn't always the easiest place to get to on a schoolday.

Press conference went about as well as expected as far as I'm concerned. No real flubs, but not a whole lot of specifics to go off either. Didn't say much about potential staff or recruiting strategy. The only time he went into any real detail about anything was when he touched on overall philosophy of playing man to man on defense and emphasis on ball sharing and high assist to turnover ratio on offense. He also reacted pretty strongly to the topic of analytics stating that he wasn't a big proponent of them.

Guy obviously wants to be here and he'll get a fair shake from me. It's easy to identify with a fellow SWVA boy who gets to come back to the NRV and work at Tech.

As someone intertwined in the healthcare field I'm happy to see this. Great example in Detroit two medics got fired because a machine decided the CPR in the back of a moving ambulance didn't met the machines standards.

Convo with Bitter and others (myself included) about the contract, which includes contract details.

I'm appalled at how much money we gave him. Unless there was another school bidding for his services we *way* overbid, IMO. If he's incredibly successful in the first few years (which, through no fault of his own, I doubt he will be) you can give him a raise.

Whit: "Hey Mike, we want you to do the same job with the same expectations and the same pressures that your peers are getting $2 million for...but we want you to do it for $1.25 M. Ummm no, you can't bring your own staff...you have to hire guys we like better because we don't actually believe you can do the job."

Mike: "Why would I want to work for you? Why would anyone with any self esteem want to work for you? Why does anyone actually work for you?"

If you don't like the hire, just say you don't like the hire; that's totally legit. But if he warrants being hired, then he warrants being paid.

Right?? Don't most jobs pay based on what they think the position is worth, not how much you made at your last job? I'm talking just in the regular work world here. MOST of the time, they tell you what the salary is, they don't ask you what you make at your current place and then go slightly above that.

Agreed. He's the 11th highest paid coach in the ACC. 56th highest in the country. He just won CoY honors at a tiny school. I don't see why this is so unreasonable.

Here are the details of new Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young's contract, which at $2 million per year to start makes him the 56th highest-paid coach in the NCAA, and 11th in the 15-team ACC, per the USA Today coaching salaries database.https://t.co/Kr2AH7GNeS— TechSideline.com (@TechSideline) April 8, 2019

It's high at first, but would we really not even give him like 3-4 years to build something?? By the point its reasonable to have results, the buyout gets much lower. Before that, yeah it should be kinda high, cuz that'd be dirty to fire him after like 2 years IMO.

The buyout is high for both sides the first 2 years, as it SHOULD BE. Tech has to show some trust that he is going to have until at least year three to prove himself. After year 3, the buyout is cheap enough.

I think it is concerning that we lack so much confidence in the hire that we are questioning whether or not we are overpaying someone who will be in or near the bottom quartile of the pay range for an ACC coach.

It's not about cost. It's not about the person. It's about the position... it's about fair market value at an ACC school with a competitive program.

Think about the low salary being used against us in recruiting. Another team would say: "obviously this guy's not serious or supported - look how little they are paying him"! "Where's Tech's commitment?? Do you wanna go there?"

We "saved" more than $1m to use for. Asst coaches and support (compared to If Buzz stayed). As a percentage of the athletic department budget, I'm guessing we are not decreasing our "commitment" to basketball. We are just reallocating the resources to accomplish a longer term goal while still showing a certain "value" to the head coach position.

We are no longer betting on a super coach model. We are trying to build a different business model. It makes tons of sense (if it works).

MIght as well wipe your mind of any recruits Buzz or McNeilly had. The loss of the Canadian pipeline with McNeilly is probably the biggest loss, as that had five recruits between 2020-2022. There is also the potential loss of Emmanuel Miller, another Canadian in the current commits.

Also, not as enthused by the news that Young intends to bring his entire staff with him from Wofford. I had really relied on him identifying some better ACC level recruiters to be a part of his staff. The note about the Driscoll brothers had me excited but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Watching the press conference I did not get the vibe that he was bringing his whole staff. He seems like a realistic enough guy to understand that is probably not a good idea. He said one of them will probably be a head coach, and said he has been making lots of calls. I think he knows he is going to have to surround himself with some really solid coaches.

It seems like an unfortunate statement because it implies the #1 priority in a new coach was a guy who would stay indefinitely. The 'Beamer of Basketball' we've heard a lot, and while that certainly means something to some of our fans, it couldn't really mean less to me.

We just had the best 3 year run of VT basketball, and it was with a coach we all knew wasn't going to hang out for long. I'd happily take another Buzz - a known commodity, proven coach, a guy who had Cassell packed and was getting W's. If he was going to push his brand, not wear VT stuff, had an ear to the ground for another job, all that could be looked past with wins. I'd gladly trade the Beamer of Basketball for another hired gun who'd give us a 3-5 year run of tourneys and a Sweet 16.

Yet here we are, taking a flyer on a coach with no P5 experience and no recruiting in-roads all in the name of him being a SWVA guy and us being too scared he might move on to a different program someday. Maybe I'm the weird one here, but these priorities just seem way off to me.

If that's your preference it's perfectly understandable, but as we can see, it's near impossible to build long term success, and a stable program that way. So if a few winning years and frequent rebuilds when the hired gun leaves is for you, then have at it. But it's hardly unreasonable to want a long term hire that can legitimately build a program and raise it to a level of success that can be sustained once that coach leaves. Remember when Memphis was really good under Calipari?? We can do that every few years and then fade into irrelevancy, or we can build a self sustaining PROGRAM, that can survive the loss of a coach. You're welcome to your preference, but it's hardly misplaced priorities to not want that for this program.

If that's your preference it's perfectly understandable, but as we can see, it's near impossible to build long term success, and a stable program that way. So if a few winning years and frequent rebuilds when the hired gun leaves is for you, then have at it. But it's hardly unreasonable to want a long term hire that can legitimately build a program and raise it to a level of success that can be sustained once that coach leaves.

I don't disagree with this, but it is very challenging for me to think Young is that guy. 30 years is a long time at Wofford, and regardless of whether or not there was an offer here or there to leave, we're taking a guy who hasn't proved to be the guy who can come in and take us to levels near where Buzz had us - especially sustained. Us finding a guy to stay a few more years makes sense, but this feels like we just needed a guy with SWVA ties first and foremost (where I was going with 'priorities'), and I'm not sure where that is going to get us long term.

But it's hardly unreasonable to want a long term hire that can legitimately build a program and raise it to a level of success that can be sustained once that coach leaves.

It's absolutely reasonable to want that. The problem is there really is no guarantee that when a coach leaves that his level of success will be able to be maintained. A lot of that is just due to the nature of how those transitions happen-- really rarely does a long-time coach step aside when the program is at its peak. They almost always leave as the result of program slippage, so the program is already several notches down from its peak when the new guy gets in the door. You don't need to look very far for an example of what I'm talking about.

Not trying to speak for anyone else, but I do think I understand what the OP was saying. I think everyone would agree that having a coach who is really successful and wants to stay a long time is obviously the preference. That's extremely difficult to find though so you're balancing them when evaluating candidates. How much weight are you putting on each factor? I think the dichotomy of Beamer and Buzz here at Tech has significantly increased the desire for a long-term hire than if this coaching search were being done at virtually any other school where they are used to being in the market for a football and/or basketball coach every 4-5 years.

Could Young be the next Beamer? Could be. And I'm rooting for it. But I'm also not getting my hopes up. There's a reason that Beamer is so unique in the coaching world. You're almost asking for lightning to strike twice.

Also, not as enthused by the news that Young intends to bring his entire staff with him from Wofford. I had really relied on him identifying some better ACC level recruiters to be a part of his staff. The note about the Driscoll brothers had me excited but that doesn't appear to be the case.

He never said that. He did say specifically when asked that he was assembling his staff I believe in response to a question about Shane Nichols .

'Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat,
but the man worthwhile, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat'

Young said he would like to bring the entire Wofford staff to Virginia Tech. That includes assistant coaches Jay McAuley, Kevin Giltner and Will Murphy. David Land, who just finished his first season with the team as athletic performance coach, is already on board.

"I will want to take them all," Young said. "I know I'm taking David right away. Their strength coach went with Buzz to Texas A&M. So I'll take David with me immediately. I would certainly like to take Kevin, Jay and Will, maybe in different capacities, early on. I certainly hope that Jay is the next basketball coach here at Wofford. I've expressed that to Richard. Jay has been great. Kevin would also be a great choice. It's not my call. I'm the basketball coach at Virginia Tech. I'm not in a position to influence anything here any longer."

He definitely made it seem like he was actively recruiting assistants during the press conference today but he has said that he wants to bring his whole staff (in the linked article). So really who knows.

Also have to wonder what happens with Dale Layer, who was the special assistant to the Head Coach while Buzz was here. Layer had a long history with Buzz but is also locked in to this area and I would like to see him stay on.

He seems tired in this interview, but he says all the right things. But for those who are angry that Buzz seemed more about Buzz than Virginia Tech, Young seems like the exact opposite. He seems like a giddy lifer who just was given keys to his favorite program.

I agree. He sounded like a fan who finally got the chance to be apart of his team. I think his mindset will be about how far he can take Virginia Tech rather than how far he can take himself. That is not meant to be a shot at Buzz, but rather a shot at the college coaching game in general where it seems most coaches always have one eye on another job. For good or bad I feel like we have Mike Young until he retires or is fired, those are the only two ways his VT career ends. Hopefully he becomes our Skip Prosser.

Whatever. It was one bad year.

Seasonal Brew means High ABV for football season and standard the rest of the year.

Yeah me not sure he talk so good after seeing this. Hopefully he realizes that and hopefully he's not this awkward with recruits. I do agree he seems tired though. I'm looking forward to seeing him once he's settled in - not tired and with more ownership of the situation.

He has already brought his strength coach over and intends to bring at least two of his three assistants. His top assistant is potentially in line for the Wofford head job so if he doesn't get that, then I expect he will join Young here too. Not sure the school will make official announcements on the assistant coaches but his presser had to be early to get paperwork into the NCAA for coaches to start recruiting, which says to me at least two of them will be on Staff by tomorrow morning so they can recruit.

Think these would be good pickups. Frazier has been working under Bruce Weber at KState (solid prgram) and Nichols may be so-so as a recruiter, but now he has a much more effective pitch in his development of Ja Morant.

One other interesting note, Hokiesports has taken down all of the Staff Bios. Right now Coach Young is the only Bio under the Coaching Staff. Makes me think there are a ton of moving pieces out of the program beyond just the coaching staff.

Not shocked by this but it was surprising at how fast they moved to update the site.

No, but the entire staff had been listed under Buzz, like Director of Recruiting, Director of Player Personnel, Special Assistant to the Head Coach and there has been no announcement yet about who is able to go with Buzz and whether anyone current is staying. Even the coaching staff, no announcement had been made on Christian Webster or Devon Johnson, although I had assumed both would be leaving, even if I would rather see Webster stay over one of Young's current assistants. His in roads into the NOVA, DC, Southern MD area were really starting to pay dividends and I do not see him catching on with Buzz at A&M.

Its already been rumored that Buzz is going to pluck the LSU interim coach to be his associate head coach for the second time, since he worked with Buzz at North Texas, Buzz is bringing McNeilly with him, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff Reynolds stay on staff at A&M with Buzz. Devon Johnson might go back to being Buzz Director of Player Personnel or something.

I'm hoping this is a good sign based on our new coaches real or perceived weaknesses (analytics and recruiting). He stated he doesn't like analytics, but he retains some analytics guys. Hopefully when he says he doesn't like things, he's really saying he isn't good at them, but still realizes their value and will hire people to fill in his gaps. That's perfectly acceptable and is true of any leader. I'm much more ok with that than a guy that sticks his head in the sand and says no thank you.

From what I've read and when I digest his performance vs big boy teams on the road, Confrence championships, offense and defense rankings, NCAA & NIT appearances, W-L columns, etc., all from a school with only 1650 students in "nowhere'sville" Spartansburg, SC, Whit has made a solid hire. I believe he will have a successful recruiting experience that balances OKG, athleticism, heart and development, which will prove out in his results over his career. His career will be like a shrub's 3 year growth pattern - Sleep, Creep, Leap. My gut tells me Young is an excellent hire. I am looking forward to watching him and his players, both existing and ones he recruits.

Here's a good read on Young from Teel. Especially for those Hokies that felt we should have been able to land another splash hire. I truly believe in a few years time under Young, we will be back to the level of success that we saw in the fun, yet short lived Williams era. And if it does come to fruition, we're even better off than we were with Buzz, cause I don't think Young is going anywhere. Young is only 55 (6 years older than Bennett, 9 years older than Buzz), I think we'll have him roaming our sidelines for a long time with sustained success, rather than a flash in the pan with one foot out the door.